Dalat International School: Senior Scribble

Su-Ji Lim While February 14-18 of 2019 was another normal school week for Dalat students, a group of high school students had a completely different experience consisting of a whirlwind of stress, nervous energy, and chaos, but also a time of forming and deepening relationships. The 41 st annual Forensics tournament had started. Held at ISKL (International School of Kuala Lumpur), the forensics tournament consisted of a serious of competitions in the categories of debate, oral interpretation, original oratory, solo acting, duet acting, impromptu, and extemporaneous speaking. Dalat students each competed in two categories. Although it may seem like a tournament is one of the last places to make new friends, every Dalat student did just that. According to Raven Chua (11), “Meeting new friends is always the best part about the tournament. It always feels awkward to initiate conversations, but I always get reminded of how friendly everyone is when I try to talk to them.” ...

Zhi Yi Saw At 8:25a, A-block, students from all over the school diverged from their path to their regularly scheduled classes, and all collected in the Harbour. It was time to pray. On 12 February 2019, many Christian schools all around the world prayed for various people groups. Dalat was among them. All students met on the Deck and then received a slip with a group of people written, in which these particular students were supposed to pray for. Such a group, for example, were refugees. Announcers instructed the students what they were doing and why. A moment of silence for fifteen minutes was given to pray. After that, the students departed for their regular A-block classes. Dalat is filled with well-off, fortunate souls, but this isn’t the truth for the entire planet. With such prosperity concentrated in one place, it was a logical conclusion for the people to give something back. Even if students are to be too busy or uninfluential on the global stage, they can at leas...

Sam Castro The Dalat men’s basketball team was in a familiar situation at the ACSC tournament of 2019. The team didn’t have a good start, and it was only then that God gave them a miracle. During the week of February 11 th , ACSC basketball began for both of Dalat varsity basketball teams. The boys went to Seoul, Korea, and the women went to Manila, Philippines. The boys spent their free day by sightseeing and adjusting to the cold temperature. The following day, the tournament pool play started, and Dalat’s first match was against Grace. It was an intense and well-matched competition that could have been anyone’s game, but Dalat fell short and lost their ACSC opener. The second and third game came, but to no avail, and Dalat was without a single win. We were 0-3. That night, everyone’s head was down when a notification popped up on my phone, which said, “Dalat plays Morisson at 10:30 tomorrow due to a team that did not follow the rules and has forfeited their games. Dalat...

Ruben Nyul This week we made Dalat basketball history. We were the first team in Dalat men’s basketball to ever place at an ACSC tournament. It all started at the YISS campus in Seoul, South Korea. The first day, when we arrived, was about negative two degrees Celsius. I love the cold weather, so this trip could have not been any better. The second day was when the hard competition began; we played Grace International School and Faith Academy. Starting off against Grace, we played an ultimately perfect first three quarters but, unfortunately, let the game go in the fourth and ended up losing the game by ten points. Then against Faith Academy, we started off on the right foot, leading by more than fifteen points. Unfortunately, they cut the lead in absolutely no time, and we ended up losing by seven points. Regardless of those two losses, Eddy Seong’s (11) uncle took us out to the best Korean BBQ I have ever eaten in my life. We had taken two losses on the court, but one very b...

Annabelle Teoh One of the last moments of a two-month journey occurred in the rustic Dalat gym, where all the hard work and sweat had been expended: it was the last practice of the season. The girls sat around in a close circle, listening to Coach Steinkamp debrief the upcoming trip. The mood was...chill. The team was laughing and joking around, as usual, but there seemed to be hints of other emotions: fear, sadness, anxiousness… Sensing the whirlwind of emotions around us, Coach Steinkamp gave us a talk about what playing basketball (or any other sport, really) has taught and will continue to teach us. “It takes weeks to climb Everest, and if you do happen to make it up, you only get 5-10 minutes at the top of Everest... it’s the journey that matters, not the end product...no matter what the outcome, smile because you got to experience the journey that comes with playing basketball,” said Steinkamp. With those words in mind, the varsity girls basketball team flew to Man...

Elisabeth Kilgo Coming to Dalat was one of the best events in my life, because it really helped with college applications. Foreign international experience? Check. Higher academic standards? Check. Extensive service work? Check- well, kind of. Dalat, unlike many other schools, requires and encourages its students to participate in community service work, which is fantastic, and it truly shows the Christian values this school strives to display. However, aside from what Dalat requires of us (only ten mandatory service graduation hours a year), Dalat students don't participate in service as much as they should. Students should help others more because, a. we are privileged compared to many around us, and we should use our advantages to help others, b. it's the Christian thing to do, and c. service work might benefit you more than those you're doing it for. “I agree that Dalat should require us to do more service work,” John Cho (12) said. “I really want to he...

Shannon Frohlich With dark eye bags and disoriented minds, the Central Java Impact team met at 5:15 A.M. by the anchor in front of the new Harbor building, excited for what was to come, but also feeling rather exhausted. “I never thought I would get closer to this team so much! Everyone bonded with each other and had so much fun,” said Dael Kim (11).  Throughout the trip, students had plenty of time to bond, creating lasting memories with one another as well as with the locals, of whom they made meaningful relationships with through their different ministries. The girls on the Impact trip had the opportunity to go to Ruma Ruth, a center for pregnant women and newborn babies. There they held and took care of the babies and interacted with the women through crafts and conversation. When it was time to say goodbye, many tears were shed, and on both ends, hearts were touched. Suji Lim (12) said, “When I heard the trip descriptions from Mr. McClary, the Central Java...

Isabel Smith Thump thump thump clap. The reverberation of the beats slapping on the tables filled the room. I looked across to my teammates, the ones seated at my table, and we smiled at each other, knowing that if we tried to say anything it would get lost in the echoes created by the dining room. This said dining room was, at that moment, filled with sweaty Indonesian kids and teenagers, making for a glorious combination of sounds and smells: loud, obnoxious, and beautiful. On the Impact trip to Indonesia, not all of us could communicate in Bahasa Indonesia, so, one night, when having dinner with some neighbourhood kids whom we had played football with that afternoon, we used music, teaching each other different rhythmic patterns and handshakes that some grasped easier than others. Kids shouted back and forth to each other as they messed up beats and the slap of high fives in triumph added to the chaotic rhythm in the room. It felt like a blessing just to witness, because th...

Ashlynn Ruble On January 30, an amazing group of students embarked on a trip to Bandung, Indonesia for an Impact trip. We were there for one week, a week full of life changing experiences, fun memories, and team bonding. The girls got the chance to go to a home for pregnant women, who have often been disowned by their families, and babies, of which the majority were up for adoption. The boys went to a local prison to interact with the prisoners, where they played volleyball, soccer, and got new haircuts. This trip was unique because none of the students were allowed to take their phones, making for a very interactive week. Photos were taken on a camera that we rotated between student photographers. Although this may keep some people from going on the trip, everyone saw it as a positive experience. Dael Kim (11) said, “I loved how we didn’t have any devices, which made us naturally spend more time with each other and create new friendships.” Our team was very special becau...

Matthew Strong Because of God’s graciousness, community members have achieved excellence here at Dalat—socially, academically, and physically, and we rightfully celebrate these people. But there is a group of people at Dalat which, may I say, are the key to which the door of opportunity unlocks, the background from which the embossment of excellence shines, and the foundation on which the house of profitability lies.  These people are yet to be venerated. My grandpa passed away a month ago. He spent 19 years at Dalat as a house parent for elementary students and his legacy still lives on. It lives on because he built relationships with this group of unseen people. My grandpa knew Aunty Ah Mooi from the registrar who first greeted us when we arrived in Penang. My grandpa always thanked Uncle Ravi, the yardman, who to this day, dutifully still sweeps the leaves the wind blows from Dalat’s beautiful trees. My grandpa loved Uncle Rajen who rarely takes a day off from work in t...

Seth Kelley Every Friday during X-block, a group of students meet in the Harbor’s Auckland room to learn more about theater and its many facets. Supervised by Mr. Doug Yost and headed by Dalat upperclassmen Kristiana Phillips (12) and Daye Jung (11), this X-block provides a stress-free environment for students to explore drama without the pressure that comes with memorizing lines or anticipating a performance. “Drama Club started out at the beginning of last semester when Mr. Yost came up with the idea of doing some drama-themed club for an X-block,” recalled Jung. “In the end, Kristi and I came up with the idea to have a student-led learning club where students gather and teach each other things about drama that they were particularly interested in.” This after-school club always welcomes newcomers, inexperienced actors, and future thespians to join in on the fun as well. “I’ve never done drama, and [Drama X-block] is a nice and non-stressful way to see what it is...

Karl Chan After a five-day Chinese New Year break, everyone is excited to be back in school to see all their friends. However, the varsity basketball players’ thoughts might differ from the rest. On Monday, February 11, we, the varsity basketball boys, headed to Korea to compete in the biggest tournament of the season: ACSC; the same goes for the varsity basketball girls, but they went to the Philippines on Tuesday, February 12. Given that it’s the biggest tournament for our school, it’s not surprising that the varsity basketball players, including myself, are very nervous. Out of the 8 schools in the conference, there has only been one time in Dalat’s history when we got first place in ACSC (which was in soccer). All the varsity sports teams would try to rewrite history by getting first place. Unfortunately, the varsity soccer and volleyball boys, as well as the varsity volleyball girls, couldn’t get the job done this year (the track team competes in ACSC in March and the...

Courtney Soon Quoting Garfield’s saying, “I hate Mondays”; the senior class, on the other hand, had a dose of “cuteness overload” to kick-start their usual Monday morning on January 28, 2019. Added with the joy of escaping B-Block for the first fifteen minutes, seniors from choir class received the opportunity to spend time with the preschoolers and read some stories to them. It was one of the last service projects from the Class of 2019, a way of giving back to the school before they leave. When the seniors proceeded to the preschool rooms, they were approached by adorably shy, little blue “minions”, each holding a couple of children’s books, waiting for them to be read to. One by one, each preschooler’s name was called and paired with a senior. Then, every senior led their little preschooler to a comfortable corner to begin reading storybooks that had bright, colorful pages of illustrations and engaging pullouts. Sofia Park (12) recounted, “I was so touched because t...